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Gate Keeper
"Your destiny... cannot be purchased." — The Gate Keeper's explanation to Manuel "Manny" Calavera of the Number Nine's transformation. The Gate Keeper guards the entrance to the Ninth Underworld and sorts out those that reach there on foot. A calm and philosophical being, he resides at the station found on top of the snow covered mountains at the end of the Number Nine train's tracks, where his only known company is a group of demon mechanics. The Gate Keeper has an unexplored mystical side which is hinted at by the fact that he seems to be familiar with the identity of those that he has not met before. This was demonstrated when he addressed Manny Calavera by his entire name despite not being formally introduced, to the surprise of the latter. Description The Gate Keeper appears to be a common soul wearing ceremonial Aztec garments and a headdress adorned with red feathers and a colorful design reminiscent of petroglyphs depicting Quetzalcoatl's serpent form (which Manny assumes must be really warm despite looking "ungainly"). His lower half is never seen, since he sits in a throne embedded directly into the structure above the entrance to the Ninth Underworld's lobby. Generally stoic, the Gate Keeper only determines where new arrivals should head by zealously following a pre-existent code. Despite serving this function, he does not control the Number Nine train's course. Instead, the Gate Keeper witnesses passively while the conscious entity decides the fates of those that try to enter the Ninth Underworld by fraudulent means by dragging them to Hell before even reaching the station. His role appears mostly limited to those that received Double-N tickets upon dying, since those that didn't like Manny, Bruno Martinez and Chepito were seemingly able to enter the Ninth Underworld freely on foot. Role in Year 4 The Gate Keeper is first seen once Manny, Mercedes "Meche" Colomar, Glottis, Bibi and Pugsy complete their travel through the vastness of the snow-covered tundra that surrounds the station. While Manny tends to an ailing Glottis, he directs the rest of the group to enter waiting area two where they are detained. When questioned why, the Gate Keeper explains that those who once had Double-N tickets and attempted to sell them will suffer dire consequences. Despite being told that the group was innocent, he refused to intervene in any manner that violated protocol. Instead the Gate Keeper coldly requests that Manny retrieves them, also choosing to prevent access to holding area two altogether. Parallel to this, the Number Nine train arrives and changes into its demonic form, taking Nick Virago and many of the sinful rich that bought stolen tickets from Hector LeMans' counterfeit ticket scheme into Hell, illustrating how nobody can cheat destiny. Despite also refusing to also aid Glottis, claiming that a thousand demons had died upon delivering the souls that they were created to protect, the Gate Keeper does forward a letter delivered by one of LeMans's human-headed demon crows to Manny. When questioned if there was a fast way to reach the city of El Marrow, he simply notes that the rails already connected it with the station. When this attitude is questioned, the Gate Keeper simply shrugs it off by explaining how "The gate opens... the gate closes... but it does not help." He is last seen collecting the recovered tickets from the group, as well as Manny's, just before they depart to the Ninth Underworld. Category:Character